


Gone but Never Forgotten

by StefWrites



Series: Haddock Family Fluff [5]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Spoilers, Parent-Child Relationship, Post-How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 02:31:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17889821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StefWrites/pseuds/StefWrites
Summary: HTTYD3 SPOILERSIt was time to say goodbye once again. And saying goodbye to the dragons was always hard but one thing Hiccup and his family knew for sure was that they’d never be forgotten.





	Gone but Never Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> *** If you have NOT seen httyd3 and do NOT want to be spoiled, save this for later! ***
> 
> I've had this idea in my head since I first saw the film. What would the second goodbye be like? What would the boat ride back to New Berk be like? This is what I imagine! 
> 
> I really hope you like this! :)

Saying goodbye was hard the first time and it was just as difficult the second time. They were never easy and were always something that one never gets used to.

But him and Toothless, they had grown up and created a life of their own with a family of their own. And they had to say goodbye again in order to keep both of their families as safe as possible.

But knowing that still didn’t make it any easier.

Hiccup’s eyes stung and a thick lump formed in the back of his throat as he watched his family say goodbye first.

Zephyr, always as energetic as ever, didn’t even hesitate to run right up to Stormfly and Toothless and wrap her tiny arms around their legs. She even received a gentle nudge from the two large dragons that caused her to smile and let out a small giggle.

And Nuffink reached his hand up to stroke their noses like he’d done when he first met them. He made sure to tell each one of them goodbye, even the little ones who couldn’t stop running around his tiny legs.

Then he watched his wife say goodbye to Toothless first. She scratched underneath his chin and whispered something to him while looking into his bright and attentive green eyes. It was something Hiccup couldn’t hear, but Toothless replied by nudging into her side with his nose.

He saw Astrid stroll over to Stormfly then. He almost wanted to look away at the sweet and tender moment, but his eyes stayed and watched her wrap her arms around Stormfly’s long neck and hold onto her for a long while, having missed the feeling and making sure she would remember it because she had no idea when or if she’d see her beloved dragon again.

“Goodbye, my good girl,” Astrid spoke, squeezing her eyes shut before pulling away and smiling tearfully at the dragon.

Hiccup then walked closer to the dragons and gave the light fury a single nod - a simple nod that was still full of meaning - on his way to scratch Stormfly in the spot she loved most. She appreciated the gesture and he knew it by the cheerful squawk she replied with.

After taking a deep and steadying breath, Hiccup made his way to Toothless then. His best friend whom he still loved just as much as the day they were children and racing through the clouds without a care in the world. They were still together…just together from afar, but it didn’t change the love between the dragon and man.

And just like the first time they’d said goodbye, the two spoke mostly with touches and nudges and embraces.

He knew that anguished yet loving look in his friend’s large green eyes, “I’ll miss you too, bud.” And their foreheads pressed against one another. That’s when the tears that had been welling up all that time fell down his cheeks.

Toothless was, once again, the last to fly away and he made sure to stop, turn around, and take one last look at his best friend and his family before flying off into the clouds and mist to join his own family on their journey back to  _their_ home.

The Haddock’s stood there watching him fly away. Astrid’s head resting on Hiccup’s shoulder, Zephyr’s tiny hand holding onto his, and Nuffink was waving at them from the spot he was standing in between him and Astrid.

They all stood there for a while - until they could no longer see the shapes of their friends in the sky. That’s when they turned around and set sail for New Berk. Their  _own_  home.

Hiccup was sitting next to Astrid, who was snuggled up against his side, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He could feel her laugh every so often as she watched the kids play with one another, who were still excited and hyper from the feeling of riding on a dragon for the first time.

And Hiccup laughed along as well as he watched them spread their arms and run around the tiny deck of the boat as best as they could, trying to explain and recreate the twists and turns to one another.

“It was amazing getting to see the dragons again,” Astrid spoke, her eyes still on their children, “But you know what the best part of today was?”

Hiccup tore his eyes away from Zephyr trying - and not quite succeeding - to put Nuffink on her back, “Getting to see the kids meet them?”

“Yeah,” Astrid nodded, meeting his eyes and smiling softly, “They’ll be talking about this day for a long time.”

“It’ll be the one conversation I won’t mind hearing a thousand times.” Hiccup said and both chuckled along with the other.

Hiccup pressed his lips to his wife’s forehead before they turned back to their original positions, watching their children laugh and play with the widest smiles spread across their young faces.

Eventually, the kids wore themselves out and fell asleep in their parent’s laps and arms before they could even reach home.

Hiccup looked over at Astrid gently running her fingers through their sons blonde hair. She smiled lovingly over at him when the two made eye contact. And then Hiccup peeked over at the peaceful and sweet face of his daughter, who was using his shoulder and the furs that covered them as a pillow.

And each of his kids fell asleep with soft smiles on their faces and he liked to imagine those smiles meant they were dreaming about the dragons and the feeling of riding them up in the sky as they ran their fingers through the clouds. The same thing he used to dream about when he was younger, the things he still dreamt about today.

Goodbyes were hard. That was never going to change. And saying goodbye to the dragons was only scary because he didn’t want to forget them - he didn’t want Berk to forget them - and the joy and excitement that they brought their lives.

But one look at the pure delight he saw on his children’s faces - the faces of the future - earlier and even now as they slept, he no longer had to worry. As long as stories were still told and as long as those excited smiles never went away, the dragons would never be forgotten.

 


End file.
